Jetstar apologises after passenger's note fails to stop 'serious mishandling'
Despite the passenger's best efforts, Jetstar's handling of his luggage left a lot to be desired.
An Australian musician has hit out at Jetstar over the seemingly reckless handling of his priority luggage, despite a sweet note explaining to baggage handlers the contents of the bag were vital to his livelihood.
Sydney artist Tim McArtney was travelling from Melbourne to Launceston last Saturday on flight JQ 731when he had to check a musical instrument to be loaded onto the flight.
Trying to get ahead of any carelessness, he attached a note with a simple sentiment for those about to handle the bag.
"Please take care of me," it read with a smiley face. "This instrument is my income."
However when collecting the case after the flight, he was less than impressed. Photos of the item show it badly damaged with scratches, a dent and multiple parts of the case broken. The state of it seems to indicate the case was unsecured during the flight or dropped multiple times.
Yahoo understands Jetstar reached out to Tim on Wednesday to apologise and offer to reimburse him for the cost of a new case.
The airline said the instrument itself was not damaged due to the evidently rough handling of the luggage.
After the frustrated passenger shared photos of the broken case online, many were quick to urge him to demand compensation.
"As someone who always flies with a guitar, this is scary as s**t," one person commented. "That is some serious mishandling."
Baggage handlers stood down over bad behaviour
It's not the first time Qantas, which owns Jetstar and contracts baggage handling services from other providers, has faced scrutiny over the egregiously rough handling of customers' checked luggage. An incident at Melbourne airport a little over a year ago saw two baggage handlers fired after they were caught on camera brazenly kicking and hurling luggage onto a conveyor belt.
Just last week, a baggage handler was told he will never work for Qantas again after scrawling the word "c**t" on a tag used by the airline to indicate a passenger's bag is heavy and may require assisted lifting.
"This is clearly unacceptable behaviour," a Qantas spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia. "Menzies, our ground handling provider at Perth Airport, has assured us that the baggage handler involved will never work on Qantas Group aircraft again."
If your bags are ever damaged upon collection, Qantas tells customers to seek out the baggage services counter at the airport and lodge a damaged bag report. If you're in a hurry or have already left the airport, you can fill out a complaint on the airline's online Customer Care Form.
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